Chapter 165: Intelligence on the "Dark Cult"

"..."

Lando sneered as he looked at Bridget.

The Skeletal Skeleton King sneered as he looked at Bridget.

The Lich sneered as he looked at Bridget.

Little Gray: zzzzzzzz

Bridget: ‽

Lando looked helplessly at his two lackeys on his left and right, who were so completely devoid of tact, leaving him with no choice but to handle the matter himself.

A mental spike stabbed toward Bridget. The latter immediately let out a miserable scream, breaking out in a cold sweat all over his body. With his power sealed away by Lando's special methods, a minor attack that previously would have felt to him like a gentle breeze brushing past his face had now transformed into an unbearable weight.

"I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll say anything you ask!"

Seeing Bridget so decisively surrender to his impulses, Lando let out a cold laugh, and ordered the Skeletal Skeleton King and the Lich not to sneer.

"Let's stick to the previous question. Tell me about the situation regarding the 'Dark Cult'."

Bridget hesitated for a moment. Seeing Lando raise his hand, he quickly blurted out, "I don't know the exact origins of the 'Dark Cult' either. About ten years ago, a mysterious person found me and asked me to join the 'Dark Cult'. Of course, at the time, I directly refused someone of unknown origin who suddenly appeared, but the other party defeated me with a single move. Moreover, the power the person used definitely exceeded the realm of legends, so at the time, I had no choice but to comply obediently."

"Then the mysterious person imparted a considerable amount of knowledge to me and left directly. For a time, I thought I had been played for a fool, but that knowledge was indeed entirely viable, so I started building my own 'Dark Cult' faction according to his instructions."

"Through my secret investigations, the 'Dark Cult' was established around the time that mysterious person invited me to join. As far as I know, there are eight bishops in the 'Dark Cult', but I only know the true identities of five of them."

"You're lying!"

With all his power sealed, Bridget's psychological fluctuations could not escape the probing of Lando's Mind Domain.

*Biubiu*, two mental spikes shot into Bridget.

A moment later, Bridget recovered from the agony. The gaze he cast at Lando was filled with terror and... deeply buried fury!

"...The 'Dark Cult' bishops I currently know about total fifteen. I know the specific identities of eight of them; though I'm not certain about five others, I have suspicions; and as for the remaining two, I truly have no idea."

Lando was quite satisfied with this answer. "Don't test my bottom line anymore. I know far more than you imagine. If you dare play any more little tricks, the punishment will be doubled!"

"As for that mysterious person who invited you to join the 'Dark Cult', what do you have to say?"

"He... He is the Arch-bishop, and also the founder of the 'Dark Cult'. He claims to have received divine revelation, which includes the knowledge he disseminated as well as his own power. Over the years, he has only contacted me a few times, and every time it was to issue missions. Apart from cultivating the Seed of the Demon God, the missions were all about gathering some rare resources."

"The Seed of the Demon God?! Where is the Seed of the Demon God you cultivated?"

"Right in the secret chamber from earlier."

Lando pondered for a moment and asked, "How can that Arch-bishop be found?"

"There's no way. It has always been him actively contacting me; I have no way to reach him." Fearing that Lando wouldn't believe him, Bridget hurriedly added, "The other bishops are in a similar situation to mine."

"When was the last time he contacted you?"

"Two years ago. He came to take away a cultivated Seed of the Demon God."

"The magic array enveloping the entire Ragna City is the knowledge he handed over to you, right?"

"Yes. This kind of magic array can gather the emotional energy ordinarily emitted by intelligent life forms, and it's the best nourishment for the Seed of the Demon God that I cultivate."

"What about the tragic events you created all over the empire? What is that ritual that caused an entire small town to slaughter one another?"

"That... That is also one of the nourishments for cultivating the Seed of the Demon God. Using these two in conjunction can vastly accelerate the growth of the Seed of the Demon God."

"Spit out all the knowledge that the Arch-bishop gave you."

Hearing this, Bridget's expression finally changed. With an ugly look on his face, he said, "The Arch-bishop placed a restriction on us; we cannot proactively disclose that knowledge."

You cannot proactively disclose that knowledge? What's the point of that?

In Lando's view, once this knowledge was put to use, it would naturally leave traces behind. Take the teleportation array, for instance—once discovered by the Imperial Court, wouldn't researching it be just a matter of time?

After a brief contemplation, he arrived at the answer most likely to fit reality: the Arch-bishop of the 'Dark Cult' actually didn't care whether this knowledge leaked or not. Because even for the simplest teleportation array, given the foundational level of this world, wanting to research a way through it would take at least a dozen or several decades, to say nothing of other knowledge.

With such a long time, the resources collected might already be enough for that deity to initially awaken. By then, with a deity's mighty power, wouldn't this world be at its mercy to ravage?

It seemed that if he wanted to acquire the knowledge in Bridget's mind, he would still have to see if Claire had any solutions.

Knocking Bridget unconscious, Lando left the Mind Domain and shook Little Gray awake from its deep slumber on his shoulder.

"Quickly contact your master. I have something to discuss."

Although greatly displeased at being disturbed from sleep, since it was a serious matter, Little Gray didn't throw a tantrum.

"Hey, hey, are you there?" Lando said to the pitch-black wall of light condensing above Little Gray's head.

A yawn came from the other side, and then the screen shook. A flash of light appeared, revealing Claire's figure.

"What is it? Couldn't this wait until tomorrow morning? Do you have any idea how exhausted I was today?"

Were you just coming back from the pleasure quarters, getting yourself tired out to this pathetic degree? My little brother, you need to take care of your little brother!

"I've captured Bridget, and I've interrogated him about a lot of things."

Claire brushed away his sleepy expression and listened attentively as Lando recounted the details.

After a short while, Lando finished his narration and, after a brief pause, asked, "Is there any way to extract the knowledge inside Bridget's head?"

"This... I can't be certain." Claire explained, "If it's divine methods, given my current level, it's absolutely impossible. But if it's other methods, we could give it a try."

"Then what are you waiting for? Hurry over and give it a try! There's still a Seed of the Demon God waiting for us to harvest over here!"

Because a powerful magic array enveloping an entire city was involved, Lando felt there was no need to take risks in such a place. Therefore, he wanted to see first if they could acquire the corresponding knowledge; at the absolute worst, they could have someone else act as a scapegoat to cushion the blow!

Claire, the designated scapegoat, very consciously and rapidly arrived at the scene.

Lando tossed out the unconscious Bridget, signaling that Claire could begin his performance.

Claire cautiously summoned the Soul-Tracking Undead. The Soul-Tracking Undead circled around Bridget for a moment before returning to Claire's side.

"No good. Although there is only a tiny trace, it is indeed divine power. With our current level, the only way to deal with power of this tier is through brute-force cracking. If we do that, we won't get anything at all. Trying to undo the seal without harming Bridget's soul is currently impossible."

Fine then, looks like it's time to boldly charge blindly into the unknown. Let's just hope the magic array in the secret chamber doesn't have any other tricks up its sleeve.